F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
HB 491 2022
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to energy; amending s. 213.053, F.S.;
3 authorizing the Department of Revenue to make
4 specified information available to the Department of
5 Agriculture and Consumer Services; amending s. 220.02,
6 F.S.; revising legislative intent; amending s. 220.13,
7 F.S.; revising the definition of the term "adjusted
8 federal income" to include certain tax credits taken
9 for farm renewable energy production; creating s.
10 220.1931, F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining
11 terms; establishing a tax credit for electricity
12 produced from a renewable energy source located on an
13 operational farm in this state; specifying the amount
14 of the tax credit; providing an application process
15 for the tax credit; specifying the priority the
16 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services must
17 give to applicants under certain circumstances;
18 authorizing the tax credit to carry forward under
19 certain circumstances for a specified period of time;
20 authorizing the transfer of tax credits under certain
21 circumstances; specifying the timeframe during which
22 tax credits for operational farms may be earned;
23 requiring a taxpayer who claims a credit to make a
24 certain adjustment to net income under certain
25 circumstances; specifying that certain entities
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26 producing and selling electricity may pass through the
27 credit earned to certain taxpayers; requiring the
28 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to
29 certify taxpayer eligibility for the credit; limiting
30 the total tax credits granted during a fiscal year to
31 a certain amount; authorizing the Department of
32 Agriculture and Consumer Services to perform specified
33 audits and investigations; requiring the department to
34 provide technical assistance to the Department of
35 Revenue under certain circumstances; establishing
36 grounds for forfeiting a credit if the taxpayer was
37 not entitled to receive the credit; requiring
38 forfeited credits returned to be paid into the General
39 Revenue Fund; providing requirements if a taxpayer's
40 eligibility for the credit is revoked or modified
41 under certain circumstances; requiring the Department
42 of Revenue and the Department of Agriculture and
43 Consumer Services to adopt rules; requiring the
44 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to
45 publish on its website updates on the amount of
46 available credits and provide an annual assessment of
47 the tax credit program to the Governor and the
48 Legislature by a specified date; providing
49 requirements for the assessment; amending s. 252.385,
50 F.S.; requiring the Division of Emergency Management's
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51 statewide emergency shelter plan to identify the
52 capacity of backup power generation systems and fuel
53 types available at each shelter; creating s. 253.471,
54 F.S.; authorizing the Board of Trustees of the
55 Internal Improvement Trust Fund to lease manmade
56 stormwater management systems for floating solar
57 energy systems; providing requirements for such
58 leases; amending s. 255.257, F.S.; requiring the
59 Department of Management Services to establish a
60 program to measure and benchmark the energy efficiency
61 of buildings owned, leased, or controlled by the
62 state; providing requirements for such program;
63 requiring the Department of Management Services to
64 submit an annual report to the Legislature regarding
65 state building energy performance; requiring the
66 Department of Management Services to collaborate with
67 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to
68 develop energy-saving strategies; creating s. 366.921,
69 F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining terms;
70 requiring the Public Service Commission, in
71 consultation with the Department of Agriculture and
72 Consumer Services and the Department of Environmental
73 Protection, to adopt rules for a renewable and energy
74 efficiency portfolio standard; prohibiting
75 implementation of the rules until ratification by the
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76 Legislature; providing requirements for the rules;
77 requiring providers to report certain information to
78 the commission regarding their energy portfolios;
79 requiring the commission to provide for cost recovery
80 of certain renewable energy projects, up to a
81 specified amount; requiring municipal electric
82 utilities and rural electric cooperatives to develop
83 standards for renewable energy use and conservation
84 and efficiency measures and to annually report such
85 standards to the commission by a specified date;
86 providing construction; requiring the commission to
87 adopt rules; creating s. 377.7061, F.S.; establishing
88 the Residential Energy Efficiency Upgrades Program
89 within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
90 Services for a specified purpose; defining terms;
91 requiring the department to provide grants for the
92 implementation of certain energy efficiency measures
93 that reduce energy usage and costs for low-income
94 households; providing eligibility requirements for the
95 program; requiring the department to publish on its
96 website updates on grant funds available; requiring
97 the department to provide an annual report on the
98 program to the Governor and the Legislature by a
99 specified date; providing requirements for the report;
100 requiring the department to adopt rules by a specified
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101 date; creating s. 377.817, F.S.; providing legislative
102 findings and intent; defining terms; requiring the
103 Office of Energy within the Department of Agriculture
104 and Consumer Services, in consultation with certain
105 state entities and officers, to develop rules that
106 meet certain requirements for reducing greenhouse gas
107 emissions; requiring the office to submit a report to
108 the Governor and the Legislature at specified
109 intervals; specifying requirements for the report;
110 creating s. 377.818, F.S.; providing legislative
111 findings; requiring the Department of Agriculture and
112 Consumer Services, in coordination with the Department
113 of Management Services and the Department of
114 Environmental Protection, to develop and maintain a
115 greenhouse gas registry and inventory; requiring state
116 and local governmental entities, state universities,
117 Florida College System institutions, utilities, and
118 certain businesses to track and report greenhouse gas
119 emissions data to the Department of Agriculture and
120 Consumer Services beginning on specified dates;
121 requiring the department to submit an annual report to
122 the Governor and the Legislature by a specified date;
123 specifying requirements for the report; requiring the
124 department to adopt rules and authorizing the
125 department to implement certain methodologies;
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126 creating s. 377.819, F.S.; establishing the Wastewater
127 Treatment Plant Energy Program within the Department
128 of Agriculture and Consumer Services for a specified
129 purpose; defining terms; requiring the department to
130 provide awards for projects that meet certain
131 requirements; providing requirements for the awards;
132 requiring eligible applicants to contribute a
133 specified cost share for projects; limiting the amount
134 that may be used on administrative costs; prohibiting
135 awards from exceeding a specified amount per fiscal
136 year; requiring the department to publish on its
137 website updates on funding availability; requiring the
138 department to provide an annual assessment of the
139 program to the Governor and the Legislature by a
140 specified date; providing requirements for the
141 assessment; requiring the department to adopt rules;
142 creating s. 377.8201, F.S.; establishing the Farm
143 Renewable and Efficiency Demonstrations Program within
144 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
145 for a specified purpose; defining terms; requiring the
146 department to conduct onsite evaluations to determine
147 certain energy efficiency upgrades at individual farms
148 and agricultural producers in this state; requiring
149 the department to provide grants for the
150 implementation of its recommendations; authorizing the
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151 department to give priority consideration to
152 historically underserved producers or projects that
153 serve certain areas; prohibiting awarded grants from
154 exceeding the appropriated funds per fiscal year for
155 the program; providing for an application process;
156 requiring the department to submit an annual
157 assessment of the program to the Governor and the
158 Legislature by a specified date; providing
159 requirements for the assessment; requiring the
160 department to adopt rules; creating s. 520.27, F.S.;
161 requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
162 Services, in consultation with the Public Service
163 Commission and the Department of Business and
164 Professional Regulation, to take certain actions to
165 protect residential solar energy systems consumers;
166 authorizing the Department of Business and
167 Professional Regulation to electronically store
168 purchase agreements at the request of a consumer for a
169 specified timeframe; authorizing the department to
170 share such information with other state agencies;
171 providing a directive to the Division of Law Revision;
172 providing an appropriation; providing effective dates.
173
174 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
175
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176 Section 1. Effective July 1, 2022, paragraph (v) of
177 subsection (8) of section 213.053, Florida Statutes, is amended
178 to read:
179 213.053 Confidentiality and information sharing.—
180 (8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
181 the department may provide:
182 (v) Information relative to s. 220.193 or s. 220.1931 to
183 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for use in
184 the conduct of its official business.
185
186 Disclosure of information under this subsection shall be
187 pursuant to a written agreement between the executive director
188 and the agency. Such agencies, governmental or nongovernmental,
189 shall be bound by the same requirements of confidentiality as
190 the Department of Revenue. Breach of confidentiality is a
191 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided by s.
192 775.082 or s. 775.083.
193 Section 2. Effective July 1, 2022, subsection (8) of
194 section 220.02, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
195 220.02 Legislative intent.—
196 (8) It is the intent of the Legislature that credits
197 against either the corporate income tax or the franchise tax be
198 applied in the following order: those enumerated in s. 631.828,
199 those enumerated in s. 220.191, those enumerated in s. 220.181,
200 those enumerated in s. 220.183, those enumerated in s. 220.182,
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201 those enumerated in s. 220.1895, those enumerated in s. 220.195,
202 those enumerated in s. 220.184, those enumerated in s. 220.186,
203 those enumerated in s. 220.1845, those enumerated in s. 220.19,
204 those enumerated in s. 220.185, those enumerated in s. 220.1875,
205 those enumerated in s. 220.1876, those enumerated in s.
206 220.1877, those enumerated in s. 220.193, those enumerated in s.
207 220.1931, those enumerated in s. 288.9916, those enumerated in
208 s. 220.1899, those enumerated in s. 220.194, those enumerated in
209 s. 220.196, and those enumerated in s. 220.198.
210